An E-Sylum reader forwarded this story about a crossing guard who gave "golden dollar" coins to her students on the last day of school. It caught my eye as confirmation of
the fact the coins, particularly dollars here in the U.S., continue to be used as gifts as they have for hundreds of years. Large silver dollars were standard gifts for decades, and kept for a
lifetime as souvenirs. I have a dollar coin that was given to my stepgrandfather by his Sunday school teacher: an 1851 gold dollar. -Editor

Merola-Woodburn wanted to give the children something that was easy for her to distribute, without going overboard.

"It's a collector's item," she said. "I know some of the children said, yes, they're going to collect them [and] save them."

She said the others "most likely will spend them," as in the case of 8-year-old Jason Laning.

"I like it because the coin is one dollar," he said. "I think I'm going to spend it on a toy."